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SiiZU Interview: Lauren Caris, A Vegan Pioneer

SiiZU Lady: Meet Lauren Caris, A Vegan Pioneer

Lauren Caris is a curator for an inspiring online community where vegans share yummy recipes and lifestyle tips.

Interview- Lauren Caris is a vegetarian turned vegan food blogger, having learned how to live minimalistically from Switzerland. She finds delicious recipes that are easy to make and shares them on her blog where a community of vegetarians and vegans can help start a conversation.

We talk to Lauren about what inspires her, a little about her daily life, and of course her favorite vegan dishes.

L: Since I was very young, I think I always knew I wanted to work in food, I just wasn't sure in which capacity. I started baking cakes for lots of friends birthdays and anniversaries so I thought about setting up my own cake business, but logistically, I wasn't in a place I could do that. Over the next couple of years I started reading food blogs and was so inspired by the wonderful photography and variety in the recipes, that I thought I would start my own. I love being able to constantly develop new recipes every single week, the variety keeps me going!

S: What are your cooking inspirations? A famous chef, your mom, a cookbook, a blog…?

L: I have a few different inspirations. I would say my biggest inspiration is food itself. Often, I'll eat something and get an idea of what to do with it, or I'll start with one ingredient, then refer to my favorite book "The Flavor Bible" to see what it would pair well with and start the development process from there. I'm very inspired by many amazing food bloggers and chefs out there, including Laura from The First Mess, Dana from Minimalist Baker and Angela from Oh She Glows. There are of course so many inspirations out there, I'm constantly finding new chefs and photographers that push me to be better than I was yesterday. I love that about the internet world.

S: What is your favorite dish?

L: Tricky one!! As much as I love cooking all different kinds of food, I think I would probably have to say stir fry. The reason being it's one of those dishes where you can use ANY vegetables you have around, and you can get really creative with lots of different sauces, but they all pretty much involve store cupboard staples. It's endlessly customizable and super easy, so it's something I come back to again and again.

S: What’s your favorite ingredient to use?

L: Garlic, for sure. I use it in nearly EVERYTHING. I can't imagine a cooking life without garlic!

S: What would be your dream destination regarding food?

L: Right now I would love to visit India, particularly Southern India. My husbands family come from India, so over the last few years I've been lucky enough to taste some authentically cooked Southern Indian dishes, but I would absolutely love to travel there and taste it all.

S: What ingredients would you bring on a desert island with you? You can only pick three!

L: Potatoes would be one, as they are a great staple and can be prepared a million different ways. Cilantro, because I just LOVE the flavor of it and add it to so many dishes, and maybe tomatoes so I can make a nice little salsa type thing with the cilantro and dip the potatoes in it!

S: What’s your favorite recipe from your blog?

L: Right now, I keep making these Vegan Teriyaki Cauliflower Tacos. I love the teriyaki flavor with the grilled cauliflower, all wrapped up in a taco with some purple cabbage and citrus avocado sauce!

S: Are there special cooking equipment you like to use? like the zucchini pasta maker?

L: I try and make most of my recipes as simple as possible by not requiring too much fancy kitchen equipment, but there are a couple of small kitchen gadgets that I consider essentials that I use all the time. One of them is a garlic crusher, these things are amazing. Just pop a whole garlic clove right in (no need to peel it first, meaning less stinky fingers), crush and then use a knife to remove the skin from the tray. I also absolutely love Microplane graters. They are perfect if you need to zest anything, great for grating ginger and all sorts of different things. I wouldn't be without these in my kitchen. The last thing would be my Nutri bullet, I use this all the time. It's the perfect size for tucking away in a cupboard, but it's such a powerhouse. We make smoothies nearly every day and I also use it to make cashew sauce for creamy pastas, it's a great gadget!

S: What's the first thing you do when you wake up?

L: Normally hit snooze and wish I could sleep for 10 more minutes haha! I like to shower and have breakfast as soon as I'm up. It helps me feel ready for the day. Then I make my daily to-do list in my bullet journal and try and tackle my tasks one by one.

S: What's your favorite restaurant in the U.S.?

L: I've actually only been to the U.S. once, we went on a road trip through California and it was absolutely incredible. As we were on the road so much we didn't eat at many restaurants, but on our last day we went to Whole Foods and got huge salad boxes from the deli bar. They were AMAZING and there were so many beautiful, fresh things to choose from. I hope we get a Whole Foods in Switzerland one day!

SiiZU isa company focused on slow-fashion wear, organic living, and eco-friendly lifestyles. We’re always on the lookout for inspiring women that give back to their communities in their own ways and create opportunities for growth.

If you want to share your lifestyles on SiiZU's Diary, reach out to us at press@siizu.com